Essential Ndubuisi
Bala Ibrahim, an account holder with Keystone Bank, has been facing financial difficulties after an ex-manager of a branch in the Agege area of Lagos State, Tijani Saleh, allegedly made an unauthorized withdrawal of N5.9m from his corporate account. Despite Ibrahim’s efforts to get the bank to refund the money, he has been unsuccessful, according to his conversation with our correspondent, as reported by PUNCH Metro.
Ibrahim opened a corporate account with the bank and deposited N20m into it. He needed N5.9m to fund his company’s projects but had not been issued a cheque to withdraw money from the corporate account. Ibrahim approached the bank manager for guidance on how to withdraw the money and was instructed to provide his company’s letterhead.
However, without Ibrahim’s consent, the bank manager allegedly used the letterhead to make an unauthorized withdrawal of N5.9m from his corporate account. Upon discovering the withdrawal when he requested his account statement, Ibrahim raised the alarm. The bank subsequently sacked the manager responsible for the unauthorized withdrawal but has yet to refund Ibrahim’s money.
Despite the bank’s knowledge of the manager’s actions, Ibrahim claims they have refused to return his money. He reported the matter to the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission), but instead of pursuing the bank, he was charged to court. After spending over five years on the case, Ibrahim was finally discharged and acquitted.
Following the conclusion of the case, the EFCC failed to take legal action against the bank or compel them to reimburse Ibrahim. He has written multiple letters to the bank requesting the money’s reversal, but they have refused. Ibrahim also appealed to the EFCC to take legal action against the bank, but they declined to do so. His sole desire is to have his money returned.
In response, the spokesperson for Keystone Bank, Edward Ettu, stated in an email to the correspondent that a forensic report revealed Ibrahim withdrew the money through a counter cheque. Ettu claimed that when the matter was reported to the police, an investigation was conducted into the N20m deposited into Ibrahim’s account. Although Ibrahim initially refused to provide his fingerprints, the forensic report allegedly indicated that he withdrew the money using a counter cheque because his regular chequebook was unavailable.
Ettu argued that the judgment did not confirm that Ibrahim had money with the bank or that the bank legally debited his account, as it was not addressed in court. Ettu also pointed out that Ibrahim filed a suit against the Federal Government, EFCC, and the bank, claiming damages totaling over N2 billion, but did not include a claim for N5.9m against the bank.
As of the time of filing this report, calls and text messages sent to the EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, for comment on the matter remained unanswered.
